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NDP leadership contender Guy Caron touts infrastructure, jobs plan

The Quebec MP will release his jobs plan on Wednesday, featuring $90 billion in infrastructure spending, a $15 minimum wage and a seven-hour workday.

NDP leadership candidate Guy Caron said his party must push back against the perception that it relies on tax-and-spend policies and doesn't know how to manage the economy. (Justin Tang / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA—NDP leadership candidate Guy Caron will unveil a wide-ranging jobs plan Wednesday that would add $90 billion over 10 years to the government’s already-pricey infrastructure spending, and implement a $15-an-hour minimum wage and seven-hour workday for workers under federal jurisdiction.

In an interview with the Star before his announcement, the Quebec MP said his goal is to push back against a narrative — propagandized by other parties, he claimed — that the NDP is lax on fiscal and economic issues.

“We’re just seen on the economy as being tax-and-spend and we don’t know how to manage,” Caron said.

“The NDP will have to demonstrate that we understand the challenges of the future, and that we will be in a position to manage this economy towards the changes that are expected.”

Caron said his “Workers First” plan aims to do just that. He identifies four prevailing challenges for 21st-century workers: the transition to a green economy; increasing machine and computer automation; precarious work; and trade agreements. The government’s responsibility, Caron said, is to ensure workers can weather these challenges and make the most of opportunities they present.

“We need to ensure they are not being punished by the various changes we will be facing,” he said.

The big-ticket item in his jobs plan is the $90 billion over 10 years for infrastructure. This would include $32 billion for renewable energy production, $30 billion to make buildings more energy efficient, $18 billion for public transit and $10 billion for high-speed rail. Caron said this is on top of the $125 billion — up to 2026 — that the current Liberal and previous Conservative governments have already earmarked for infrastructure.

The plan includes pledges to push for paid sick leave, fair scheduling and full-time work. Caron would also ensure that workers transitioning out of declining industries — such as oil and gas, he said — would get training for new jobs. Workers who are laid off in declining industries could also start collecting Canada Pension Plan payments at 60, the plan says.

To pay for it all, Caron acknowledged some deficit spending may be necessary. However, he also plans to hike the federal corporate tax rate to 19 per cent from 15 per cent — which he said would more than cover the extra $9 billion per year in infrastructure spending that he proposes — and implement a “robust carbon tax.” Details on that will come in a forthcoming policy announcement on climate change, he said.

He said his vision also includes his “big proposal” for a basic minimum income, which is designed to support Canadians who are working less or lose their jobs as the economy changes. It all amounts to his pitch for “progressive economics” which Caron said is an alternative to the privatization, deregulation and trade agreements pursued by Liberal and Conservative governments.

“No one can tell us we’re better off now than we were in the past,” he said. “We need to change tack.”

Caron is among the four remaining candidates vying to take over the federal NDP leadership from Thomas Mulcair. His opponents include Ontario MP Charlie Angus and Ontario NDP MPP Jagmeet Singh, both of whom have also proposed $15-an-hour minimum wages for federal workers. Niki Ashton, a Manitoba MP who is also running, has pitched a new tax on financial transactions and hikes on corporations and the wealthy.

NDP members will vote for a new leader by ranked ballot, with online voters able to resubmit their choices each week in October until a single candidate gets at least 50 per cent.

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